Cradle

ABSTRACT

This invention has to do with a cradle for use with rolls of flexible material, such as fabric, and, more particularly, to a cradle for use in the textile industry for use at the entrance to a scray, the cradle having a table which is tiltable to cause the roll to fall into a trough, after which a guide bar is moved into contact with the material leaving the roll.

United States Patent [l5] 3,695,533 Shedyak I 1 Oct. 3, 1972 [54] CRADLE 3,245,625 4/1966 Quinn ..242/S5.l 3,473,748 10/1969 Merrill et al. ..242/81 X [72] Shedyak spew" Mass 3,582,010 6/1971 Whiteman ..242/68.7 x [73] Assignee: Curtis & Marble Machine Company,

Worcester, Mass. Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Assistant Examiner-Milton Gerstein [22] Filed: 1970 Attorney-Norman S. Blodgett [2]] Appl. No.: 87,087

[57] ABSTRACT 52 us. Cl ..242/ss, 66/149 R, 242/586, This m f f if i 9 W with 242/68 7 242/81 rolls of flexible material, such he lJbtlL. an i, more 7 02 particularly, to a cradle for use m the textile industry [51] Int. Cl. ..B65 5/ for use at the entrance to a scram the cradle having a [58] Field of Search "242/55, table which is tiltable to cause the roll to fall into a 242/787; 66/149 trough, after which a guide bar is moved into contact with the material leaving the roll. R f C't d [56] e e 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,231,210 1/1966 Miller ..242/81 X i 1e L PATENTEDflms m2 sum 1 or 3 INVENTOR fiL BER TEQHED m YAK A RNEY PAIENTEDama m2 3.695.533

sum 2 or 3 INVENTOR.

ALBERT T SHEDYAK PATENTEMM I912 3.695, 533 sum 3 0F 3 INVENTOR. ABERT T5HEL VAK CRADLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the textile industry, there are occasions when it is necessary to join the cloth or goods from a large number of small rolls end-to-end into one large roll. For this purpose, it is necessary to sew the leading end of one roll to the trailing end of the roll ahead of it. Since the operation of coiling the goods onto the large roll is a continuous one operating at high speed and since it is desirable to stop the motion of the ends of the fabric that are to be sewed together while the sewing operation takes place, it is necessary to introduce a slack or storage function between the sewing apparatus and the coiler. Such a storage device is called a scray;ln the past,acradle has been provided at the entrance end of the scray to hold the small roll while its free end is sewed to the trailing end of the roll ahead of it and then to hold the roll while its goods are being unwound for passage into the scray and onto the large roll. In the past, however, such cradles have operated only with considerable difficulty. Part of this difficulty is brought about because of the fact that the small coreless rolls have quite often been deformed to an out-ofround condition. This causes the roll to move in the cradle in an unpredictable manner. Furthermore, when the fabric isalmost entirely removed from the roll and the remainder of he roll is quite small, there is a tendency for the roll to be lifted up into the machine. Also, unless the operator is quite careful, the trailing end of the fabric is liable to go into the scray beyond the point at which it can be sewed to the next roll in line. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a cradle for use with a textile roll, which cradle is operative to feed the goods smoothly despite irregularities in the shape of the roll.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a cradle for a textile roll in which the final unwinding of the goods is operative to shut down the feeding mechanism of a following apparatus.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a textile cradle having a first position in which the roll supported during connection to the end of the preceding roll and a second position to which it is moved during unwinding so that the first position is available for immediate introduction of the next roll.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a textile cradle having a guide means to strip the good and assure that at the end of the roll the reduced roll does not move upwardly into following apparatus.

It is another object of the invention to provide a textile cradle having a guide means to assure complete stripping of a roll, even close to the end where the weight is not available to assure such stripping.

With these and other objects in view, as will be ap parent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, the invention has to do with a cradle which is used with a coreless roll of cloth which is to be passed through a scray. It has a tiltable table on which the roll is initially placed while it is sewed to the preceding roll and a trough in which the fabric is un* rolled from the roll to pass into the scray. A swingable guide element is provided to define a narrow passage for the flow of the cloth, which guide is swung into place after the roll is securely placed in the second position. A photoelectric apparatus indicates when the end of the roll arrives at the clamping position and automatically shuts down feeding mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cradle embodying the principles of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the cradle enlarged and with portions broken away to show the details of construction, and

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the cradle with portions broken away.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. 1, which best shows the general features of the invention, the cradle, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is shown in use with a scray 11. A roll 13 of fabric lies in the cradle 10, this fabric extending upwardly between drive rolls 14 which cause it to progress into the scray. In the usual way, the cloth is stored by the scray in a to-and-fro pattern for subsequent introduction to a high speed coiler which makes up a large roll of goods consisting of the fabric from a large number of smaller rolls l3. Extending across the front of the scray above the cradle is a table 15 on which sewing takes place. Spaced above the table is a horizontal rail 16 having; an internal track on which is slidably carried a downwardly-depending arm 18. At the lower end of the arm is mounted a sewing machine 19 which cooperates with the table 15 to perform the sewing operation. Located at the right side of the table is the control 21 having the various switch buttons for energizing certain parts of the cycle, including the operation of the cradle 10.

The roll 13 rests on a table 22 which is tiltable in a manner to be described more fully hereinafter. Arranged along the table are two guides 23 and 24 which are adjustably slidably mounted on a horizontal shaft 25 which underlies the table. The guides assure that the roll is easily properly positioned on the table by the operator. Underlying the table 22 is a smooth sheet metal trough 26. The table is pivoted about a horizontal pivot point 31 at its forward edge by mean of a cylinder 29 which operates at its rearward edge. At the right hand end of the frame of the cradle is swingably mounted an arm 27 connected at one end to a hydraulic cylinder 28. The other end carries a stripper or guide bar 32. Mounted on the shaft 25 is a target 33 which combines with a light source 34 mounted in the scray to provide the well-known retro-reflective control system in which a beam of light'originates in the source 34 is reflected by retro-reflective material on the target 33 and the beam is uninterrupted and returns to the source where the fact that it is uninterrupted makes itself known on a photoelectric cell so that a signal is generated on output leads indicating the presence or absence of an interruption in the light beam.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the details of construction of the cradle 10. In FIG. 3 of the drawings, the roll 13" is shown in the secondary position with the cloth feeding upwardly into the scray (not shown). The next roll, which is waiting to be sewed to the tail end of the roll 13", is the roll 13' which resides on the table 22. The guide 23 is shown as lying over the end of the roll Because, in this figure of the drawings, the cradle is being observed from the left-hand end relative to an operator facing the entrance end of the scray. This figure shows how the table 22 is pivotally mounted on the hinge pin 31 and is tilted by means of the cylinder 29 operating at a part of the table substantially removed from the axis of the hinge pin. Extending from the front of the cradle is a handle 33 forming part of the adjustment means for the guide 23 along the shaft 25.

FIG. 3 shows particularly well the manner in which the cylinder 28 is inclined upwardly toward the rear of the cradle. At a slow speed of cloth withdrawal, the roll 13" will occupy a position toward the front of the cradle, but, as the movement of cloth speeds up, it will move upwardly along the inclined surface of the trough and occupythe position shown in the drawings. The left side of the cradle is provided with a swingable arm 27 similar to the arm 27 that can be seen in FIG. 1. The arms are mounted on aligned pivot axes 34. The upper ends of the arms 27 are L-shaped with the leg extending into a recess 35 formed in the side plates of the cradle. The bar 32 which is in the form of a hollow square bar, extends between the two legs of the L-shaped upper ends of the swing arms and lies closely adjacent to a similar hollow square bar 36 extending between the spaced side plates of the cradle. The corners of the bars 32 and 36 are slightly rounded. The cloth, in passing upwardly, passes between the two facing parallel surfaces, passes around the corner of the upper bar 32 and along its rearwardly-facing surface, and is then drawn slightly forward around the upper rear corer. Adjacent the gap defined by the two bars are mounted two entrance bars 37 and 38. The entrance bar 37 is uppermost and is attached to the bar 32 and, therefore, moves with the swing arm 27. The other bar 38 is attached to the bar 36 and, therefore, extend s between the sides of the cradle. These bars are made of steel and are not subject to wear under ordinary usage. The light source 34 and the target 33 are arranged so that the beam of light just barely passes over the top edge of the bar 37.

The operation of the invention will now be readily understood in view of the above description. Let us start with a time in the cycle when the cradle and the rolls associated with it are in the condition shown in FIG. 3; that is to say, the roll 13" is in the trough 26 and the fabric is entering the scray. The next roll to be added to the line, roll 13", lies on the table 22 in the condition shown. The fabric from the roll 13" passes upwardly between the bars 37 and 38, between the facing surfaces of the hollow bars 32 and 36, around the rounded lower rear corner of the hollow bar 32, upwardly along its rearwardly-directed surface, around its upper rear corner, and from there substantially vertically toward the driven rolls of the scray. It should be noted that the facing surfaces of the hollow bars 32 and 36 are not horizontal. Actually, they are tangential to a cylinder whose axis is the axis of the pivot pins 34 on which the swing arms 27 are pivoted. Furthermore, these surfaces are inclined rearwardly and downwardly, thus causing the rearwardly-directed surface of the upper bar 32 to be inclined rearwardly and upwardly. This results in a more even drag on the fabric as it passes through the gap and over the surfaces. The light beam from the source 34 passes outwardly toward the target 33, but never reaches it. The photocell of the source 34 indicates that no light beam is received back and that the cloth extends upwardly toward the scray drive rolls. The passage of the cloth from the roll 13" through the labyrinth passages produces a drag on the cloth and a smoothing action which is beneficial to the progress of the cloth into the scray. At the same time, it assures that irregularities in shape of the roll 13" and its change of size as it gets smaller does not affect the movement of the cloth toward the scray. Eventually, however, the fabric on the roll is entirely unwound and the end of the roll passes upwardly through the labyrinth between the bars. Eventually, the lower end passes upwardly above the upper edge of the bar 37 and the light beam originating in the source 34. As soon as the light beam is able to pass directly to the target 33 without an intervening web of fabric, it is returned by the retro-reflective surface of the target and passes to the photocell in the source. The photocell then signals to the appropriate control in the well-known manner to shut the drive rolls of the scray. Cloth is being taken from the other end of the scray, however, continuously by the high speed coiler.

The operator then grasps the free end of the fabric suspended vertically from the scray and lays it on top of the lower end of the fabric from the new roll 13 which lies on the table 22. The two ends are pinned on the sewing table 15. The operation of a suitable button in the controls 21 causes the arm 18 to traverse on its track and carry the sewing machine 19 over the two pieces of cloth sewing their pinned ends together. This also swings the bar 37 forwardly to open the gap by means of the cylinder 28. The sewing machine passes in one direction only to sew the ends together and is returned to its original position without sewing at a later time. As soon as the sewing machine passes beyond the far edge of the cloth, the drive rolls of the scray are automatically started up and, at the same time, the table is tilting while the cloth starts its passage into the scray. After a suitable period of time has passed, the first roll of the scray is up to operating speed and torque. The air is introduced by means of a solenoid into the pneumatic cylinders 28. This causes the upper ends of the arms 27 to swing rearwardly until the bar 32 lies adjacent the bar 36. At this time, a switch is automatically closed and this operates through a solenoid to admit air to the proper side of the pneumatic cylinder 29, which tilts the table 22 about its pivots 31. The new roll 13' is caused to roll over the rear edge of the table into the trough 26. ln order to do this, it must, of course, slightly re-wind that fabric which is being drawn into the scray by the drive rolls 14. However, when the roll strikes the pan or trough, it rolls downwardly and forwardly to the lowest point of the trough. It will rotate in that position and centrifugal force will tend to round out the roll. While this new roll is being unwound and introduced into the scray, there is plenty of time for the operator to place the next roll on the table 22 which has been returned to its horizontal condition. The timing of this motion of the new roll over its table 22 must be such that the sewed joint has already been removed from the sewing pins by tension in the cloth. Immediately after the roll reaches the trough 26, however, a suitable switch is automatically actuated to reverse the action of the sewing machine and return it to its original position. The bar 32 has already been returned to its position overlying the fixed bar 36 and, of course, this returns the bar 37 to its position at a slightly spaced distance from the bar 38.

The advantages of the present invention are clearly obvious from the above description. By use of the present apparatus, it is possible for the cloth to be introduced to the scray in such a manner that very little interruption is necessary for sewing. This means that greater latitude in the scray storage capacity is possible and may result in the need for a'scray of a smaller storage capacity and less cost. At the same time, the shape of the roll becomes inconsequential to the operation of the scray; that is to say, so far as the scray is concerned, all rolls being unwound from the cradle are exactly alike with no irregularities, lopsided shape, wrinkles, doubling-over, and so on. At the same time, all of the operations in moving the rolls take place semi-automatically and it is possible to stop the drive rolls of the scray with the tail end of a roll hanging in exactly the right position for being sewed to the leading end of the next roll, this stop being brought about by use of the photocell indicator.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A cradle for textile roll or the like, comprising:

a. a frame having two vertical spaced side plates,

b. a table mounted between the side plates at the upper portion thereof,

c. a trough mounted between the side plates in the lower portion thereof,

d. a fixed guide element overlying the trough, and

e. a retractable guide element mounted on the frame and movable toward and away from the fixed guide element.

2. A cradle as recited in claim 1, wherein a photocell apparatus is provided having a source mounted at one side of the frame and a target mounted at the other side of the frame so that a beam of light passes on occasion over the two guide elements.

3. A cradle as recited in claim 1, wherein a swinging arm and a pneumatic guide cylinder are provided, and the retractable guide consists of a bar mounted at one end of the swinging arm which is actuated by the pneumatic cylinder.

4. A cradle as recited in claim 1, wherein the table is pivoted about an axis extending from one side plate to the other, making the table tiltable, and a pneumatic table tilting cylinder is proyided to tilt he table.

5. A cradle as recited in claim 1, wherein the two guide elements are of generally square configuration with rounded corners so that two facing plain surfaces are provided between which the fabric passes.

6. A cradle as recited in claim 5, wherein the table is pivoted to be tiltable, and the retractable guide element normally overlies the fixed guide element and in retractive position underlies the table so that when the table is tilted, a roll of cloth moves from the table into the trough and the retractable guide element carries a portion of the fabric toward the fixed guide element. 

1. A cradle for textile roll or the like, comprising: a. a frame having two vertical spaced side plates, b. a table mounted between the side plates at the upper portion thereof, c. a trough mounted between the side plates in the lower portion thereof, d. a fixed guide element overlying the trough, and e. a retractable guide element mounted on the frame and movable toward and away from the fixed guide element.
 2. A cradle as recited in claim 1, wherein a photocell apparatus is provided having a source mounted at one side of the frame and a target mounted at the other side of the frame so that a beam of light passes on occasion over the two guide elements.
 3. A cradle as recited in claim 1, wherein a swinging arm and a pneumatic guide cylinder are provided, and the retractable guide consists of a bar mounted at one end of the swinging arm which is actuated by the pneumatic cylinder.
 4. A cradle as recited in claim 1, wherein the table is pivoted about an axis extending from one side plate to the other, making the table tiltable, and a pneumatic table tilting cylinder is provided to tilt he table.
 5. A cradle as recited in claim 1, wherein the two guide elements are of generally square configuration with rounded corners so that two facing plain surfaces are provided between which the fabric passes.
 6. A cradle as recited in claim 5, wherein the table is pivoted to be tiltable, and the retractable guide element normally overlies the fixed guide element and in retractive position underlies the table so that when the table is tilted, a roll of cloth moves from the table into the trough and the retractable guide element carries a portion of the fabric toward the fixed guide element. 